Food Safety Awareness - Wash Your Hands!

It’s not a secret that I am obsessed with very aware of food safety.  You certainly don’t have to live in fear of salmonellosis or e coli, but being aware of safe food handling practices can go a long way in protecting yourself and those who enjoy your cooking.   Fortunately, the number one precaution you can take is an easy one!

Wash your hands and wash them often.  

When you consider how many times you touch your food as you prepare it, the importance of clean hands becomes clear.  

You can contaminate your hands with pathogens when you

• touch raw meat
• use the bathroom
• sneeze, cough, or blow your nose
• touch or scratch any part of your body
• smoke a cigarette
• take out the garbage
• use chemicals
• pet an animal
• and so on

If you touch a ready-to-eat food with contaminated fingers, the pathogens can quickly multiply and wreak havoc on your tummy when you eat them.  

Take a simple first step to serving safe food: wash your hands frequently.  Use the list above to raise your consciousness.  If that doesn’t help, how about this tidbit of knowledge:

A common cause of foodborne illness is trace amounts of fecal matter on inadequately washed hands.

Um, ew.

So, how do you adequately wash your hands?  Follow these steps:

1. Wet your hands under clean running water, then apply soap.
2. Rub your hands together to create a lather; thoroughly scrub your hands, between your fingers, under your nails and up your forearm for at least 20 seconds.  (Sing the birthday song twice.)
3. Rinse your hands well under running water holding your fingertips downward.
4. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry.  Resist the urge to wipe your hands dry on your apron or blue jeans.

A total of 30 seconds of effort to reduce the risk of poo in my food?  I think I can handle that.

Are you a frequent washer?  Have you ever given it much thought?  Are you sorry I brought it up?